Ear guard for water polo players



July 15', 1969 H. w. HIND 3.

EAR GUARD FOR WATER POLO PLAYERS iiled June 12, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

HARRY W H/ND A TTOKNE V5 July 15, 1969 H. w. HIND EAR GUARD FOR WATER POLO PLAYERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 12, 1968 INVENTOR. BY HARRY W H/ND ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,454,962 EAR GUARD FOR WATER POLO PLAYERS Harry W. Hind, 895 Kifer Road, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086 Filed Jun 12, 1968, Ser. No. 736,536 Int. Cl. A41d 21/00; A63b 33/00 US. Cl. 2--2 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An ear guard is provided for water polo players to prevent injury to the ears, said ear guard being made of a plastic material of semi-ovoid shape having a plurality of holes therein to prevent the build-up of pressure when the wearer receives a blow, particularly under water. Quick drainage openings are provided so that the ear guard will drain rapidly as the wearer raises his head out of water.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention Ear guard for water polo players.

Description of the prior art Various ear guards have been proposed but none is known which would be suitable for use by a water polo player.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION the external ear is also very susceptible to injury. The' present invention provides a guard which extends outwardly from the ear having a series of openings therein so that a blow around the ears from any angle does not result in any substantial build-up of pressure of the water within the guard. The guard is also provided with a quick drainage opening near the bottom so that as the player raises his head out of the Water from almost any angle, the water drains rapidly from the guard and does not impair hearing when the players head is out of water. The guard can be easily attached to a conventional water polo cap to suit the individual player.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a profile view of the guard and cap of the present invention showing it in place on a wearer.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the cap and guard of the present invention showing it spread out.

FIGURE 3 is a front view of the structure shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a top view enlarged of the guard, generally on the line 44 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged side view of the guard.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged bottom view, generally on the line 6-6 of FIGURE '1.

FIGURE 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of FIG- URE 5.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective view showing the method of attachment to a cap.

3,454,962 Patented July 15, 1969 'ice DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to drawings by reference characters, there is shown a cap generally designated 9 which has a top portion 11, fitting over the head of the wearer and depending fiaps 13 coming down over the ears and terminating in ties 15 so that the cap can be tied as at 17 under the chin of a wearer. The cap has openings 19 of generally oval shape and, as can best be seen in FIGURE 3, the ears of the wearer normally protrude through these openings. In accordance with the present invention, a guard is provided over these openings, the guard being generally designated 21. The guard proper is of semi-ovoid shape as at 23, having flattened marginal edges 25-. A plurality of apertures 27 are provided in the guard set at various angles on the generally ovoid surface of the guard so that a blow can come from any direction yet will not result in any substantial increase in pressure of water within the guard. Also, the openings are of sufiicient number and size so that there is no substantial interference with hearing when the user is above water.

In order that water may rapidly drain from the guard as the user raises his head out of water, an enlarged opening 29 is provided near the bottom of the guard. Preferably this takes the form of a curved elongated slot. The elongated slot allows water to drain rapidly from the guard, regardless of the position of the head of the wearer as he emerges from water. Other drainage openings may be provided in place or in addition to the slots, such as a series of apertures along the bottom of the guard.

Preferably, the guard of the present invention is made of a relatively soft, yieldable plastic such as a polyolefin. The guard can be made by vacuum forming of a material such as a polyethylene sheet, or, preferably, it can be made by injection molding.

Caps for water polo players come in a variety of ungraded sizes and also the exact location of the ears on a player vary somewhat so that an important feature of the present invention is that the ear guard can be attached quickly to any existing cap in the exact location which is best for that particular user. Further, since the caps are expendable and the ear guard lasts almost indefinitely, the ear guards can be salvaged from a worn-out cap and transferred to a new cap without difficulty.

The method of attachment can best be seen in FIGURE 8. The rim 25 of the ear guard has a series of holes 32 therein. The ear guard is held temporarily in place and the best location determined. The fabric 13 of the flap is then marked with a pencil or the like for the location of the several holes and small holes 34 are then made in the fabric utilizing any sharp instrument such as a pin. A series of plastic rivets 31 are provided each of which has a small head 33, a shank 35, and a large head 37. The plastic rivets are well known to those skilled in the art and are made of a soft, readily deformable plastic. The head 33 is larger than the opening 32 while the shank 35 forms a snug fit with the opening 32. After the small holes 34 are made, the small head of the rivet 33 is placed through the fabric 13 and then with a slight amount of pressure, the small head is temporarily deformed by pressing the guard into place. The small head 33 will pass through the hole 32 and will then expand to its former size, locking the guard firmly in place. If it is desired to transfer the guard to another cap, the rivets can easily be withdrawn using ordinary finger pressure.

Although the present invention was designed primarily for water polo players, others engaged in water activities will find it useful such as surfers, skin divers, water rescue workers and the like.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many departures can be made from the exact structure illustrated without departing from the spirit of this invention.

I claim:

1. An ear guard for water polo players or the like comprising:

(a) a plastic shell-like member of smooth, semi-ovoid configuration,

(b) a planar flattened rim extending outwardly from the periphery of the guard,

(c) a plurality of apertures formed in the semi-ovoid surface of said guard for the free ingress and egress of water therefrom,

(d) an elongated arcuate opening formed at the bottom of said guard whereby water can drain rapidly from the guard, one edge of the elongated arcuate opening lying substantially in the plane of the outer surface of said flattened rim and substantially defined by a portion of the inner arcuate edge thereof,

(e) means in said flattened rim for securing the guard to a wearers head.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the guard is made of a soft plastic.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said last named means includes holes formed in said rim and deformable rivets, said rivets having a small head and a large head with a shank therebetween, said small head being deformable to pass through said holes and said shank being of a size to form a snug fit with the holes in the rim.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1966 Merriam 23 4/ 1967 Helm 2'-209 XR US. Cl. X.R. 2209 

